Remote starting device for motor vehicles



July 15, 1969 v. p. HAWTHQRNE 3,455,403

REMOTE STARTING DEVICE FORNMOTOR VEHICLES Filed April V25, 1967 ATTORNEYUnited States Patent O 3,455,403 REMOTE STARTING DEVICE FOR MOTORVEHICLES Vernon D. Hawthorne, Raleigh, N.C., assigner of fifty percentto James Finley Boney, Raleigh, N.C. Filed Apr. 25, 1967, Ser. No.633,480 Int. Cl. B60k 27/02, 33/02; B601' 18/00 U.S. Cl. 180-1 8 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to engine startingdevices and more particularly to a system for remotely starting of theengine of a vehicle and operation of accessory items.

In the past, various types of remote control starting devices have beendeveloped using such things as photoelectric cells and mechanicalcontact between a portion of the vehicle to be started and a contactconnected to a remote control. All of these systems, however, have beenextremely costly in construction and installation as Well as beinglimited to a single starting location due to the permanently fixedremote control station. The prior art devices further are inadequate inthat there is no positive control of accessory equipment such as heatersand air conditioners. There have also been developed many types ofautomatic starting devices utilizing a clock or similar timer. This hasthe obvious disadvantage of forcing the operator of the vehicle todetermine many hours in advance the exact time he wishes the engine tostart with no remote means for changing the time should that originallyset become inconvenient or undesirable.

The present invention has been developed after much research and studyinto the above mentioned problems s and is designed to provide animproved portable remote control system for motor vehicles having adependable starting means which substantially duplicates manual startingprocedures. The device also keeps the operator informed as to whetherthe engine of the vehicle is operating and incorporates a means forpreventing unauthorized movement of the vehicle should the runningengine thereof become tempting to indiscreet persons. Since one of themain reasons for remotedly starting vehicle engines is to warm up theengine so that the vehicle will be ready to go almost instantaneously, ameans has also been provided for remotedly controlling the climaticconditioning of the interior of the vehicle by allowing control of boththe heater and air conditioner units. To further overcome thedifficulties presented by the prior art devices. Applicant has developeda system which is simple to operate and install in the vehicle as wellas being completely portable thereby eliminating the limiting featuresof xed remote units. This has a definite advantage of allowing theremote starting device to be used from a motel or hotel room or anyother location where the operator may wish to start his vehicle withoutentering it.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved, combined remotely controlled engine starting system `andaccessory control system which substantially duplicates the manualoperation of these units.

Another object of the present invention is to provide, in combinationwith an improved remote control startice ing system, an indication meansfor informing the operator of the functioning condition of the engine.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means forpreventing unauthorized movement of a vehicle which is standingunattended with its engine running.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote controlmeans for climatically conditioning the interior of a vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote controlstarting and operating system for a motor vehicle which is completelyportable for both the vehicle unit and the remote control unit.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent and obvious from a study of the following description and theaccompanying drawing which are merely illustrative of the presentinvention.

In the drawing:

The single figure is a circuit diagram of a preferred embodiment of theremote control system of the present invention.

With further reference to the drawing, FIG. 1 discloses a remote controlsystem for a motor vehicle including an electrical power source such asa battery 10 which is connected through junction 11 to both ignitionswitch 12 and relay 13.

The ignition switch is so constructed as to energize the primaryelectrical circuit 14 of the vehicle and the starter motor 15 whenoperated manually as indicated by the irregular broken lines.

Switch 12 and relay 13 are connected in such a manner that when saidswitch is in the oif position, the circuit is made through the relay andwhen said switch is in the on position, the circuit through the relay isbroken. When relay 13 is closed, electricity can flow through the relayto shift lever switch 16. This switch is so constructed that the circuittherethrough is made only when the vehicle is in park. Whenever the gearshift lever is moved to any other position, the shift switch is openedthereby interrupting the ow of current therethrough.

A vehicle transceiver 17 such as a combined transmitter and receiver ofthe type commonly used to control model airplanes, ships, cars and thelike is connected to shift switch 16. Connected to transceiver 17, insuch a manner that upon the receipt of the proper signal they may beturned on or oit, are throttle actuator 18, air conditioner 19, heaterZ0, primary circuit 14 and start r motor 15.

An oil pressure sensing switch is placed in a circuit extending from thevehicle transceiver through such switch and back to the transceiver.This switch is so designed that it will be closed only upon the reachingof a predetermined amount of oil pressure within the engine therebyallowing current to ow therethrough and at pressure below thepredetermined amount it will remain open thereby preventing currentflow.

As will be noted from the ligure, the circuit through the starter motor15, throttle actuator 18, airconditioner 19 and heater 20 are allcompleted through a common ground which is connected to one side of thecurrent source or battery 10. In actual practice of the presentinvention, all the lead in and outlet connections could be built into asingle multipronged plug so that the transceiver 17 may be pluggedthereinto. If preferred, a multiwire, pigtail type connection could beconnected to the unit. In either case, the transceiver would be readilyremovable for repairs or transferred to another vehicle which issimilarly wired. It is also contemplated that the overall system of thepresent invention could be either preinstalled at the factory as the caris being built or could be later installed by the owner.

In actual operation of the remote control device of the presentinvention, remote transceiver 22 (of the same ltype as transceiver 17)is portably placed in a desired location within transmission andreceiving range of the vehicle transceiver 17. When the operator decidesto start the engine of the vehicle, he can actuate switch 23 oftransceiver 22 which sends a signal to transceiver 17 which in turnallows current to ilow from .battery to throttle actuator 18 therebyopening the throttle of the engine (not shown). If a pumping effect isdesired similar to pumping the accelerator pedal to prime a cold engine,switch 23 may be moved from on to off position several times. Next,switch 28 of the remote transceiver is used Y to close the circuit invehicle transceiver 17 to energize the overall primary electrical system14 including the ignition system (not shown). When this is done, switchv24 of transceiver 22 is actuated so as to transmit a. signal totransceiver 17 which closes the circuit from battery 10 to starter motor15. As this motor turns, the engine will start thereby building up oilpressure within the crank `case thereof. Since this build-up of oilpressure is relatively rapid, and since in most automotive vehicles thestarter motor disengagement is automatic upon the starting of theengine, as soon as oil pressure of a predetermined amount is reached acircuit through oil pressure sensing switch 21 'will be completed fromthe transceiver 17 through the switch and back thereto whichautomatically opens the circuits from battery 10 to starter motor andthrottle actuator 18. The closing of the circuit through the oilpressure sensing switch also activates the transmitter portion ofvehicle transceiver 17 thereby sending a signal to the receiver portionof remote transceiver 22 which in turn lights indicator 25 to show theoperator that the engine is running.

Thus it can be seen that the manual starting procedures for the vehicleengine may be duplicated from a remote position including informing ofthe operator of the remote device that the engine is running.

Either immediately after the starting process or at a later time afterthe engine has had time to warm up and run smoothly, the heater or airconditioner 19 may be selectively turned on by manipulation of remotetransceiver heater switch 26 or air conditioner switch 27. The delayedmanipulation of either of these two accessories is usually desirablesince in the winter the heater is not usually turned on until the enginehas warmed up and the air conditioner would not be turned on in thesummer until the engine is running smoothly due to the additional loadplaced on the engine by the engagement of the refrigeration systemcompressor.

Since the operation of the heater and air conditioner is directly fromthe battery 10 by way of transceiver 17, y

the overall automobile primary circuit 14 through which these two unitsusually operate does not necessarily have to be on. Should some of theother accessories in the vehicle which are connected to the circuit bedesired to operate such as the radio, stereo, windshield wipers, etc.,switch 23 must be -manipulated to send a signal to transceiver 17 toenergize the system.

After the engine of the vehicle has been started and warmed up and theheater or air conditioner, as the case may be, has been operating longenough to climatically control the temperature within the vehicle, theoperator may drive the vehicle in the normal manner by inserting a keyinto ignition switch 12 and turning the same to the on position whichwill automatically open the circuit through relay 13 thereby renderingtransceiver 17 and all systems connected thereto inoperative while atthe same time closing the circuit indicated by the irregular brokenlines to primary circuit 14 which is in turn connected to the heater 20,air conditioner 19 and the other accessory equipment (not shown) of thevehicle as well as to the engine ignition system. Thus it can be seenthat by turning the ignition switch to the on position, immediate shiftfrom the remote control system to the normal manual system of thevehicle is possible. If desired, a reset switch (not shown) may beprovided in vehicle transceiver 17 so that once the ignition switch 12has been manipulated, the vtransceiver cannot be reactivated until resetmanually. Likewise, it is obvious that once the ignition switch has beenturned to the on position, should the engine for some reason stall orstop, the starter motor 15 may be activated to restart the engine, asshown by the irregular broken lines connecting switch 12 and motor 15,without having to go through the vehicle transceiver 17.

The throttle actuator 18 may be either an electromagnetic type device orany other desired electrical means to accomplish the end result. Itshould be noted that it is not necessary to in any way connect this-device through thef'primary circuit system since it is only used whenthevehicle is on remote control. Likewise, the oil pressure sensingswitch is only used during automatic operation although it, of course,could have either an automatic pressure gage or an indicator lightconnected thereto so that it would serve the dual purpose of circuitcontrol and indicator.

Should the operator of the Vehicle inadvertently forget to insert theignition key into ignition switch 12 or should some unauthorized personattempt to drive the carv by placing the gear shift lever in the driveposition, the circuit between relay 13 and vehicle transceiver 17 wouldbe interrupted thereby automatically cutting olf the vehicle engine byinterrupting the ow of current to primary circuit 14 to which the engineignition system, as hereinabove described, is attached. This feature ofthe system not only will prevent thefts of the vehicle but should allowthe running of the engine unattended without in fracting the laws incertain metropolitan areas which prohibit the leaving of a vehicleunattended while the engine is running since the vehicle would beattended, at least technically, from a remote position.

In place of the oil pressure sensing switch 21 could be substitutedeither a manifold pressure sensing switch, a temperature sensing switchpreferably connected to the cylinder head or cylinder wall, anelectrical surge sensing switch connected to the generator or alternatoror a RPM sensing switch such as a tachometer since any of these meanscould serve the purpose of sensing the fact that theengine has started.

'If the vehicle to which the remote system of the present invention isconnected does not have an automatic choke device connected to thethrottle, a choke could be connected from vehicle transceiver 17 tooperate similar to throttle actuator 18. This choke device could also beso connected that it would not automatically cut olf as throttleactuator 18 does upon the starting of the engine, but could bemaintained in choke position until cut off or reduced from a switch (notshown) on remote transceiver 22.

It is obvious that the present invention has the advantages of providinga simplified remote operation system for vehicular type machines whichis inexpensive to install and operate and which substantially duplicatesthe manual operation of the various systems from a remote position. Thesystem of the present invention likewise has the advantage of allowingthe remote transceiver to be transported to various locations withoutany specific oprational relationship except to be within thepredetermined transmitting and receiving range of the vehicle unit.

The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specicways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit andessential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalencyrange are intended to be embraced herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A remote control vehicle engine and accessory operating systemcomprising: a portable remote radio transceiver for transmitting andreceiving electromag.

netic wave signals propagated through the atmosphere; a vehicle mountedradio transceiver operatively tuned to receive from and to transmit tosaid remote radio transceiver electromagnetic wave signals propaga-tedthrough the atmosphere; a source of electrical energy operativelyconnected to said vehicle transceiver; a throttle actuating meansoperatively connected to said vehicle transceiver; means within saidvehicle transceiver to connect said electrical source to said actuatingmeans upon receipt of a predetermined signal from said remotetransceiver; an engine starting means operatively connected to saidvehicle transceiver; means within said vehicle 'transceiver to connectsaid electrical source to said starter means upon receipt of apredetermined signal lfrom said remote transceiver; and engine operationsensing means operatively connected to said vehicle transceiver in sucha manner that when the enginevof the vehicle begins operating theconnections between the lelectrical source and the engine starting means4a-nd the throttle actuator means will be automatically disconnected.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the disconnection of the connections tothe engine starting means and the throttle actuator means by the engineoperation sensing means causes the transmission of a signal from Vtheve- Ihicle transceiver to the remote transceiver to energize anindicator means operatively connected to said relmote transceiver.

3. The remote control system of claim 1 including a vehicle heatingmeans operatively connected to said ve- 'hicle transceiver; and meanswithin the vehicle transceiver to connect said electrical source to saidheater upon receipt of a predetermined signal from said remotetransceiver whereby the heating means may be remotely operated.

4. The remote control system of claim 1 including a vehicle interiorcooling means operatively connected to said vehicle transceiver; andmeans within the vehicle transceiver to connect the electrical sourcewith said 'cooling means upon receipt of a predetermined signal fromsaid remote transceiver whereby the cooling means may be remotelyoperated.

5. The remote control system of claim 4 including a vehicle heatingmeans operatively connected to said vehicle transceiver; .and meansWithin the vehicle transceiver to connect said electrical source to saidheater upon receipt of a predetermined signal from said remotetransceiver whereby the heating means may be remotely operated.

6. The remote control system of claim 1 including an ignition switchhaving an on position; a relay between said electrical source and saidvehicle transceiver; and means operatively connecting said ignitionswitch to said relay whereby when said ignition switch is in on positionthe circuit between the electrical source and the vehicle transceiver isbroken.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said vehicle is equipped with a gearShift means having a park position and at least one gear engagedposition; a shift switch operatively connected between said electricalsource and said vehicle transceiver and mounted on said gear shift meansin such a manner that the circuit through said switch is closed whensaid gear shift means is in park position and said switch is open whensaid gear shift means is in the gear engaged position whereby the engine'and all accessories being operated through said vehicle transceiverWill become inoperative upon the shifting of the gear shift means frompark to gear engaged position.

8. A remote control vehicle engine and accessory loperating systemcomprising: a self contained remote transceiver; a vehicle mountedtransceiver operatively ltuned to receive signals from and to transmitsignals to said remote transceiver; a source of electrical energyoperatively connected to said vehicle transceiver; a throttle actuatingmeans operatively connected to said lvehicle transceiver; means withinsaid vehicle transceiver to connect said electrical source to saidactuating .means upon receipt of a predetermined signal from said remotetransceiver; an engine starting means operatively connected to saidvehicle transceiver; means within the vehicle transceiver to connectsaid electrical source to said starting means upon receipt of apredetermined signal 'from said remote transceiver; engine operationsensing means operatively connected to said vehicle transceiver 'in sucha manner that when the engine of the vehicle begins operating theconnections between the electrical source and the engine starting meansand the throttle 'actuating means will be automatically disconnected; anindicator means operatively connected to said remote transceiver; meanswithin the vehicle transceiver to antoymatically transmit an indicatorenergizing signal to said remote transceiver upon the disconnection ofthe engine starting means and the throttle actuating means by the engmeoperation sensing means; a vehicle heating means operatively connectedto said vehicle transceiver; means within the vehicle transceiver toconnect said electrical source to said heating means upon receipt of apredetermined signal from said remote transceiver; a vehicle interiorcooling means operatively connected to said vehicle transceiver; meanswithin the vehicle transceiver to connect said electrical source to saidcooling means upon receipt of a predetermined signal from said remotetransceiver; lan ignition switch having an ofi position and an onposition; a relay between said electrical source and said vehicletransceiver; means operatively connecting said ignition switch to saidrelay in such `a manner that when said ignition switch is in the onposition the circuit between the electrical source and the vehicletransceiver is broken; a gear shift means having a park position and atleast one gear engaged position; a shift switch operatively connectedbetween said electrical source and said vehicle transceiver and mountedon said shift means in such a manner that the circuit through said shiftswitch is closed when said Shift means is in park position and saidshift switch is opened when said shift means is in the gear engagedposition whereby the engine and all accessories being operated throughsaid vehicle transceiver will become inoperative upon the moving of theshift means from park to gear engaged position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,569,332 9/1951 Perkins.2,832,426 4/ 1958 Seargeant 180-2 2,836,732 5/1958 Newlin. 3,154,68910/1964 Bubbenmoyer 290-38 3,275,836 9/ 1966 Vancha 290-38 A. HARRYLEVY, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

